Ella Ella is a short documentary produced at Humber College for the second year documentary project. Ella Ella is a personal documentary that spotlights Ella, a drag performer who recently came out as a trans girl. The film interlaces the retelling of Ella’s gender discovery with her physical transformation into the drag queen Ella Mayo. As her body undergoes makeup, hair and wardrobe, we discover the delicate relationship between two Ellas, and how one has aided the other’s becoming.
Editing Ella Ella
Editing a documentary is to bring a story together, fully, for the first time.
The first time I met Ella was at the location scout of her house. She was out of drag, but full of the life and energy and kindness that she carries into each of her performances. From filming her performing live, watching her go through the process of transforming into Ella Mayo, and listening to her interview, the pieces seemed to fall together almost naturally.
With the guidance of my director Eddy Yang, I was able to combine Ella's words with beautiful imagery of transformation to tell an extremely intimate piece that captured Ella's beauty.
I encourage you to watch Ella's story where you can, and to go out and support your local drag performers. There is a beautiful, welcoming, loving community of queer people out there that is an absolute joy to be a part of, even if only for a few moments.
